The Rollins College Center for Advanced Entrepreneurship and CEO Nexus, in collaboration with the Florida High Tech Corridor Council, cordially invite you to the CEO Forum, a program series that brings together leaders of established growth-stage businesses in a confidential setting to meet and learn from CEO peers who have grown their companies into more advanced stages of business development.

This event is by invitation only.

Monday, September 13, 2010

SunTrust Auditorium, Rollins College

Registration and networking from 6:30 to 7:00 pm

Program and Q&A from 7:00 to 8:00 pm

john-thedford
Speaker: John Thedford
CEO, Family Financial

John D. Thedford is the founder and CEO of Family Financial which is currently establishing retail pawn locations in Puerto Rico, Florida, Texas and Arizona. Prior to founding Family Financial, he established Value Financial Services in 1994, which operated under the banner name of Value Pawn and Jewelery. During his tenure as CEO at Value, he grew the company to 68 retail locations throughout the Southeastern United States, establishing it as the largest privately held pawn chain in the United States.

Under Thedford’s 15-year leadership, Value received significant recognition as one of the fastest-growing private companies in America and as one of the best places to work in Central Florida. Value also consistently earned “world-class” ranking by The Gallup Organization for its excellence in employee and customer engagement. In 2008, Value Financial merged with EZCORP in a $120 million transaction, which Thedford managed through completion.

Thedford’s success in the field was further confirmed in 2008, when he was honored as a finalist in the Ernst & Young Florida Entrepreneur of the Year award. He was also recognized as Orlando Business Journal’s “Entrepreneur of the Month” in 2007.

Released in April 2010, Thedford’s book “Smart Moves” details an easy-to-follow path for running a successful company using methods recommended by some of the world’s best known business thinkers. Based on the success of his own company and research on giants of industry, Thedford isolates the key elements of business success and links these to form a prescribed route to profit that any manager or CEO can follow.

Thedford is a graduate of the Wichita State University in addition to being a CPA.